Android game BasketBall Lite shoots a brick

BasketBall Lite for your Android phone is an arcade game that seems to be more difficult than shooting an actual basketball into a hoop.

It's a free throw shootout game, in which you are given everything you need to score points. You have a clear shot of the basket and the controls that give you the muscle and aim to make it happen. But, regardless, it's a challenge to make a shot.

To play, you're supposed to arc and aim your trajectory (or path) that your ball will follow, in the direction of the net. To do so, drag your thumb across the screen in the direction of the net to indicate the angle and distance. Keep in mind that the color of the line will change as your line becomes longer. This will determine how hard the ball will be thrown.

Unfortunately, because of the way the game is designed, it's really hard to draw your line into the basket without drawing a longer line. I also found that I didn't have a lot of freedom when it came to giving the line shape. It was impossible to arc the ball. As far as I'm concerned, if you can't arc and shoot, that kind of makes a game of basketball impossible.

There are three different game play modes. With each setting the ball will become more sensitive to changes that will affect how hard and fast the ball will be thrown.

In the game of BasketBall Lite, there are a bunch of different gaming options. Play single player timed modes and choose your length of game: one-, two-, or five-minute games. Single player consecutive modes allow you to choose between two points, three points, and both medium and hard versions of the driveway shootout game, H-O-R-S-E. There's also a network challenge option, but I was never able to try it out, as the app would crash every time I opened it up.

I found the advertising in BasketBall Lite a bit too intrusive. More than once, a huge pop-up from the developer covered the screen, instructing me to "check out their new game." Because I wasn't expecting it, I clicked directly onto it while playing and it took me to the marketplace.

BasketBall Lite is a tough game to master and this isn't really the kind of challenge that I welcome. I would often lose control of the ball and get frustrated. I didn't find it to be especially engaging, either. If you try it out and decide that you enjoy this game, however, you can buy the full version in the Android Market.